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Best Buy sale knocks $100 off two Nest Hub Max smart displays

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The Nest Hub Max is one of our favorite smart displays and it earned a score of 86 when we reviewed it. It’s more versatile than Google’s smaller smart displays as its 10-inch screen is great for watching videos and viewing photos, and it also comes with a video camera.

That extra hardware feature lets you video chat with friends and family, and it also lets the Hub Max act as a security camera for your home. Instead of using a separate Nest Cam, the video camera on the Hub Max can watch over your home when you’re away and you can use the companion mobile app to watch the video feed whenever you want. While there’s no physical camera shutter, you can electronically disable the camera and microphone with a swipe on the screen.

The camera also keeps an eye out for gestures you can do to control the Nest Hub Max, like holding your palm up in front of it to pause a song it’s playing. Since the hub Max is the biggest Google smart display, it’s a lot more powerful in terms of audio than its smaller siblings. It has two front-facing tweeters and one rear-facing woofer, and those help it sound much better than the regular Nest Hub. All of these features make it a great smart display that’s worthy of a spot on your kitchen counter or in your living room — and with this deal, you could have one in both spots or spread the abilities of the Google Assistant throughout your home.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.



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‘Mario Kart Tour’ finally works in landscape mode

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When Nintendo introduced Mario Kart Tour for Android and iPhone last year, it made a couple of questionable decisions, like not offering a multiplayer experience and making the game playable only in portrait mode. Nintendo added multiplayer mode in March, and today, it made the game playable in landscape.

You can now flip between portrait and landscape while you’re playing, and landscape mode offers a new control layout. The changes make a lot of sense and will likely make the game a bit more appealing.

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Google Maps integrates bike-share locations with navigation

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As with so many Google updates, this one is rolling out over the “coming weeks,” so don’t be surprised if it’s not an option immediately. Google says it’ll be available in 10 cities to start: Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington DC and New York City are the US options. It’ll also work in London, Mexico City, Montreal, Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Tapei and New Tapei City.

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‘Shin Megami Tensei V’ arrives on Switch in 2021

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The next iteration of Shin Megami Tensei has been in the works for several years, and while we already knew it was bound for Nintendo Switch, it’s remained unclear until now when you’ll be able to get your hands on it. During today’s Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase, it emerged that Shin Megami Tensei V will have a simultaneous worldwide release in 2021, and it’ll be a Switch exclusive.

Fans of the JRPG series have had a bit of a wait since the last entry. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse dropped on Nintendo 3DS in 2016. Before that, Shin Megami Tensei 4 arrived in 2013.

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Snapchat’s third-party ‘Mini’ apps are live

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Snapchat announced it was working on Snap Minis last month, and the first four made their debut today, Adweek reports. They include Headspace, Let’s Do It, Prediction Master and Flashcards. Snapchat has also promised Mini versions of Saturn (to compare class schedules), Tembo (study prep), Atom (to buy movie tickets and watch trailers with a group) and Coachella.

This is part of a larger trend of Snap sharing more tools with developers. The company previously said it plans to make more of its camera features available to third-party developers, so outside apps may soon be able to use Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses.

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GOG Galaxy 2.0 adds official Epic Games Store integration

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When GOG Galaxy 2.0 launched as a closed beta last year, its goal was to show all of your digital games in one place. There have been lots of community integrations that allow you to bring in games from platforms other than GOG, but until now Xbox Live was the only official integration. Today, GOG announced an official Epic Games Store integration for GOG Galaxy 2.0.

“We’re excited that Epic Games Store integration has come to GOG Galaxy 2.0,” said Steve Allison, Epic Games Store general manager. “It’s an important step towards breaking down walls between PC stores, as it enables a unified experience for players to manage their PC games library independent of where their games were purchased.”

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OnePlus’ true wireless earbuds make early appearance in software update

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The launch of a new OnePlus 8 update has afforded fans of the Chinese company’s phones a look at its soon-to-be-launched wireless earbuds. Buried inside the phone’s APK is a series of renders of the as-yet unavailable headphones in three different colorways. That includes white, black and the altogether more interesting turquoise and green/yellow offering that’ll appeal to folks who want to make a statement. 

Around the same time, as if this leak had been planned or something, OnePlus’ official Instagram dropped a commercial for the new buds. The appended description simply read “$XX.XX,” which most folks would take to mean that the gear, when launched, will cost less than a hundred bucks. It looks, too, as if they will be branded as “OnePlus Pods,” again according to a reference within the APK.



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Engadget The Morning After | Engadget

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Welcome to a new week. We’ll get into the KFC science project a little later, but let’s start with Samsung. The company typically adds software updates and apps to its Galaxy phones with zeal, and a lot of the time, they go untouched, and we complain about all the bloat.

Is that what’s happened here? The company has notified German users that it’s removing weight, calorie (meal tracking) and caffeine tracking from the Samsung Health app through updates due later this month.

Was it a case of people not using the features? Or does the company have a new, even more impressive health app waiting in the wings? Its Galaxy Note reveal event is in a few weeks. Let’s see.

—Mat

The glass back is peeling off some Pixel 4 XL phones

Google has yet to say if it’s a recurring problem.

TMA

Engadget

Pixel 4 XL users on Google’s forums and Reddit are complaining about their phones’ glass backs peeling off. This appears to stem from the battery swelling — not an unheard of issue, but rarely with this kind of frequency, and it’s the kind of problem that would usually take months to appear. But this phone launched last October.

One Reddit user, who claims to manage a uBreakiFix store, said the Pixel 4 XL had a widely known problem with faulty connectors, which lead to battery swelling. Google hasn’t yet responded, but it’s bad timing. The company is expected to officially unveil the Pixel 4a very, very soon. Continue reading.

KFC hopes to develop the first lab-made chicken nuggets

3D bio-printed nuggets could be more eco-friendly and ethical.

KFC

WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images

KFC has teamed up with Moscow’s 3D Bioprinting Solutions with the goal of producing the world’s first lab-made chicken nuggets. The Russian firm is developing an additive printing technique using chicken cells and plant material that, ideally, recreates the “taste and texture” of natural chicken while keeping animal involvement to a minimum. KFC, meanwhile, will provide bread, spices and other ingredients to match the restaurant’s “signature” flavor.

KFC hopes to have a final nugget design ready for testing in Moscow by fall 2020. Mmm, nothing stokes the appetite like bio-printed nuts. Continue reading.

Sponsored Content by: IdentityForce

IdentityForce

GitHub is done depositing its open-source codes in the Arctic

On ice.

Last year, GitHub revealed its plan to store all of its open-source software in an Arctic vault as part of its Archive Program. Now the code-hosting platform is done making sure future generations can access them even if civilization collapses within the next 1,000 years… and, er, you can still get to the Arctic.

The collection now sits inside a chamber within a decommissioned coal mine, under hundreds of meters of permafrost. Continue reading.

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Amazon has a big sale on its Fire tablets and Fire TV products

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Buy the Fire 7 tablet on Amazon – $35

If you need something a notch above that, Amazon is also selling its Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus tablets at $20 and $30 off, respectively. Both now offer USB-C charging, decent performance, long performance and hands-free Alexa, with the HD 8 Plus adding a 9W adapter for faster charging and wireless charging capability. The main drawback is a lack of Google apps, but they’re fine if you’re heavily invested in Amazon’s ecosystem.

Buy the Fire HD 8 tablet on Amazon – $60

Buy the Fire HD 8 Plus tablet on Amazon – $80

The last tablet up for sale is the Fire HD 10. It finally supports USB-C fast charging, and performs well thanks to an octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 10.1-inch 1080p display and 10 hours of battery life. You also get hands-free Alexa and picture-in-picture viewing, but no Google apps. It was a decent deal at $150, but a steep $50 discount should make it a strong contender if you’re looking for a new tablet.

Buy the Fire HD 10 tablet on Amazon – $100

Amazon’s entry level Fire TV Stick offers 4K is priced reasonably at $50, considering it offers Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and an Alexa Voice Remote. However, it’s now on sale for just $35, making it a touch cheaper than Roku’s $40 tiny Premiere box. At the same time, Google has again discounted its Fire TV Cube from $120 to $100. It’s not only Amazon’s most powerful Fire TV device, it can also work as a full-fledged Alexa device thanks to the built-in speaker.

Buy the Fire TV Stick on Amazon – $35

Buy the Fire TV Cube on Amazon – $100

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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UAE successfully launches its Hope Probe on a mission to Mars

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The probe is equipped with ultraviolet and infrared spectrometers, along with a camera sensitive to optical and ultraviolet light. It will be placed on an equatorial orbit that allows it to observe how conditions in the lower atmosphere change over time. “It covers all regions of Mars at all local times at Mars, and that’s a comprehensive understanding that fills in the gap of changes through time through different seasons of Mars throughout an entire year,” Al Amiri said.

The UAE mission is just the first of three Mars missions scheduled to launch this month while Earth is particularly close to Mars. Next up is China’s Tianwen-1 mission to place a lander and 530-pound rover on the planet. Designed to check the Red planet’s geology, it’s equipped with six instruments including a weather station, magnetic field detector and ground-penetrating radar. That mission is scheduled to launch on July 23rd.

Then on July 30th, the US and Europe will launch the Mars 2020 mission, complete with the 2,315 pound Perseverence rover. It’s designed to touch down on Mars in February 2021 and collect several dozen samples from promising sites. Those will be collected in 2026 by NASA’s Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) mission, and brought back by a rocket called the Mars Ascent Vehicle.

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